Customer Reviews

Kenwood VR-806 6.1-Channel Home Theater Receiver (Black)

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
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This is an awesome deal for the money. It has all the features of a more expensive receiver. The sound is great and it is easy to set-up. All-in-all you can't beat this system for the money. A++++

Looking back, I remember when DHL first brought me my Kenwood VR-806 last November. I felt like a kid when I saw the bright yellow van pass my house leaving only tire tracks in the fresh snow. To prepare myself for disappointment, I thought to myself that the driver passed my house because my reciever had not come yet, but I knew he overshot my house on accident. It was not long before the brightly dressed man handed me my reciever.

From the start, the reciever proved to be an awesome deal on, and has proven itself to be reliable. The Kenwood VR-806 serves great for someone just getting into the "home theater" sound, but don't feel like breaking the bank. The VR-806 also serves it's purpose well for those that don't need all the bells an whistles of the highly priced, and overrated pieces of equipment.

So what are this recievers short-falls? Well For those that have several components sending out digital sound, you might be dissapointed. There is only one input for a coaxial cable, and one toslink (optical) input. So for those with a dvd player, gaming system, and digital (satellite/cable) reciever you'll be short one input slot. Of course there are other methods, but the whole purpose it to eliminate excessive cable webs. This does not however limit those who don't mind the sound restrictions caused by using the analog (red/white or red/black) cables, because there are more than enough of those slots available.

For those that enjoy using their reciever or the thought or using their reciever to control video input may want to look elsewhere also. There are very few spots availible, and they all must be component (red/green/blue) cables, or the analog (yellow) cables. So for those using s-video (round five pin) cables or the new hi definition cables, you will have to use modulators or other selecting devices to transfer or select between video signals.

Another short fall is the lack of input slots for the new and rarely used DVD-A cables. But since the DVD-A format probably won't last beyond the new High Definition DVD's, and Blue Ray disks, most people shouldn't be too worried.

If you can oversee the limitations, the kenwood is still an exceptional piece of equipment. Most every reciever these days comes standard with DTS, Nero6, and Dolby Digital decoders so there is no surprise that this one does as well. The one thing that the reciever does not have is the THX certification and presets. But when one compares price tags, they might overlook a slight variance in sound (notice I didn't say sound quality since there isn't an audible inferiority in non THX certified recievers in my opinion). As for setting up the system, it is pretty simple. The reciever is menu based and allows you to control the volumes of every speaker hooked into it seperately, including the subwoofer. Nothing else really needs to be tweaked, and the reciever automatically selects digital decoders for you. For non digital signals, it only takes the press of a button to scroll through the myriad of sound options. So you can make it sound as if you are in a stadium, auditorium, jazz club, or whatever. Sounds interesting at first, but you'll never end up using them.

As far as power per channel, yeah its probably around 100 watts, but watts per channel should never be a selling point. Always remember that more power from a reciever doesn't mean anything. Recievers these days all drive a sufficient amount of power. If you were really worried about driving a high wattage tower speaker, you would be looking at seperate power amplifiers anyway.

I have rambled on more than you probably wanted to read so basically the reciever is a great deal, but limits the users ability to use just one source for all their entertainment needs.

Though it's a great value while on sale and gives you the opportunity to attach more devices than a smaller receiver for the same price or more, this Kenwood receiver is so complicated! There are many settings to be messed with and options to choose and it's hard to get your speakers sounding right. Thank Goodness for my boyfriend or I would have packed this up and sent it right back! Should be more user friendly!